The Awakening
by HazzaTL3
Summary: Zack wakes to find the cell he and Cloud are being detained in is unlocked. However, as he tries to escape Cloud attacks him. Zack is knocked out during the attack and wakes again to find Cloud is missing and a trail of dead bodies left behind. Was this Cloud's work or is something else going on? Set after CC before Nibleheim is rebuilt. A few surprises planned.


- Zack's PoV -

Zack awoke to find his cell door was slightly ajar. He glanced over at Cloud who was curled up in a ball on his slab wearing the tattered remains of his ShinRa infantry uniform. He found while studying his sleeping friend that he felt anger toward Hojo. Every time Cloud was returned from the professor's company he lay in that position. When he woke no words left him for a long while. Each time this happened, it took longer and longer for Cloud to recover. So torn between the need to escape and the want to comfort his friend, Zack could only stand there indecisively.

After a while he decided this was too good a chance for escape to pass up. He got up off his slab, cautiously walked toward the door, and pushed it open, gaining confidence from this opportunity to leave. Just as he was about to walk out of the cell towards his sword which Hojo had left leaning against the wall outside the cell to taunt him, he heard moaning. He turned back and rushed over to where Cloud was. As he approached, he realized Cloud was muttering the same words over and over to himself, "I'm sorry professor, please forgive me."

Zack had never heard him say that before. He looked over to Cloud, thinking 'It'll be ok buddy. I'll get you out of here,' while walking over to him. Cloud was still in a deep slumber so hesitantly he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and shook it to wake him. Cloud just lay there unresponsive so Zack shook him again and again saying, "Hey buddy, wake up. You ok?" until eventually Cloud abruptly stopped muttering and uncurled his body. "Man, you were talking in your sleep. What did Hojo do to you this time?" Zack asked, relieved his friend was ok when suddenly Cloud's head turned and his eyes shot open, looking up at Zack.

He took a step back as Cloud's bright-green cat-eyes stared right into his own. He quickly recalled the last time he saw eyes like this; it was when Sephiroth was crazed, laughing evilly while the town of Nibleheim burned to the ground around him. Cloud's eyes were unblinking and he took a fearful step backwards in an effort to keep distance between himself and his friend. Cloud rose up menacingly from his slab and assumed a commanding standing position, eyes constantly staring deep into Zack's soul. After standing there for a while, Cloud suddenly took a determined step towards him and punched him square in the jaw. The last thing Zack remembered as he lost consciousness was Cloud turning away from him and had resumed muttering, "Hojo, forgive me."

Groggily Zack got up, scanned the cell which revealed that Cloud was gone and that the cell door was still ajar. His jaw ached but a massage assured him it was not broken. Deciding there was no reason for him to stay here; he headed straight for his Buster sword. As he picked it up, he noticed a leather harness was hanging on a hook behind it. He stared at it, thinking 'That's convenient', while picking it up to strap to his back. He spun the sword round in his traditional victory pose grinning, 'Feels good to have this back in my possession'. Positioning the sword on his back, he looked to the exit door, 'Now to get out of here. I wonder where Cloud has gotten to?'

He walked to the exit door and opened it slightly, checking for anyone who might try and foil his escape. Finding no one, he took a step outside and finding a rocky tunnel lay beyond, which he recognized but couldn't remember from where or when. He shook his head, deciding thinking about it would only distract him. Walking down the tunnel, he found while trying to concentrate on finding a way out, his mind started to wander. He remembered his mission to Wutai with Angeal; the time he defeated those anti-SOLDIER monsters in Fort Tamlin and was gloating to himself. While they lay there, he assumed they were both dead when suddenly one got up and hit him. The blow sent him flying back into a wall and the anti-SOLDIER was about to bring its flail down on him when it fell over dead, Angeal had arrived just in time to save his life. He smiled as he remembered talking to Angeal, the one thing his mentor told him which stuck out most in his mind was, "You lost your focus." He stopped walking and put his head in his hand realizing he had just done it again, he had lost focus. He took a deep breath dismissing his memories and resumed looking for an exit.

As he walked down the tunnel passing by several locked doors imbedded in the rock face, he stopped in realization. He remembered this tunnel; he had come here when he was searching for Sephiroth in the ShinRa mansion. That meant he was still in Nibleheim underneath the ShinRa mansion. Having remembered the tunnel, he knew where an exit was so he ran down the tunnel towards where he expected to find a ladder which led up into the mansion proper. When he got to where he expected the ladder to be, he found there was a spiral staircase there instead. He started to question if this really was the tunnel he remembered, deciding that there was no way there were other tunnels exactly like this. He was indeed under the mansion. Hojo must have had the staircase installed to allow for easier access to and from the mansion proper. He mentally kicked himself for getting distracted yet again and ascended the stairs. When he got to the top he was in a small bedroom.

Looking around for anything that might be useful, at first glance he saw only an old cupboard and a bed with drawers underneath. He checked in the drawers but found them to be empty. Closing the drawers, he headed to the cupboard. Lying to the side of it was a small pile of discarded clothing which he discovered was the remains of Cloud's old infantry uniform. He put it down and opened the cupboard, inside were ShinRa uniforms for several divisions within the company. Since his uniform was dirty and torn he decided to change it for a fresh one. While looking through them he realized Cloud must have done the same. "Wonder what uniform he took?' There were no SOLDIER uniforms in his size, the only uniform that was large enough was a low ranking Infantry uniform. Sighing, he grabbed it and got changed thinking once free he could find more clothing; maybe in another town somewhere.

Zack heard a door open and spun round placing a hand on the hilt of his sword but found the exit door was still closed. Hesitantly, he walked toward the door and placed his ear to it. In the next room were people talking. Swearing to himself, he realized he might have to fight his way out. He opened the door slightly and glanced outside.

He saw several infantrymen in the next room all with their backs to him, looking at some dead comrades. He quietly closed the door, then returned to the cupboard, and grabbed a helmet. He then picked up his and Cloud's discarded uniforms and hid them underneath the bed making sure to remain as silent as possible. Walking back to the door, he took a deep breath, and opened it. He walked out into the next room feigning a mild limp and acting groggy as if he had just woken up from a beating. However the room was empty; the men he had seen must have left. He saw a door to his right so Zack opened it and saw the men were walking away from him, heading down the hall.

He silently walked down the hall following the men at a safe distance away. They passed the central staircase and went into a room at the end of the hall. Zack watched as the door closed and quickly descended the stairs, in sight was the front doors; behind which was freedom.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he saw a small group of infantrymen and a commander to the left of the doors. He tried to sneak past them, but the commander turned round and noticed him, "Stop right there..." Zack froze, unsure what to do. The commander walked over to him, when he lifted his hands up to his head and groaned as if in pain. "Wait, you a survivor?"  
"Yeah, well at least I assume so," Zack lied, "I don't remember, just woke up". Zack stumbled to the wall and leaned against it, "I decided to go get some air..."

The commander walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're lucky to be alive. The rest of the men stationed here have been killed. We were sent here to clear away any evidence of this town's destruction and to prepare it for reconstruction." Zack nodded in acknowledgement taking this information in for later use. He slid down the wall, sat on the floor and grabbed his head groaning as if in pain. "You ok?" the commander inquired.  
"Yeah, my head aches, feels groggy, I need some air," Zack replied allowing the commander to help him back up as he continued feigning giddiness.

The commander called to his subordinates. "Private Jones, I want you to take this man to the medics and get him checked out." He then turned back to Zack looking at the sword on his back, "That sword you have, where did you get it?"  
"I err… I found it in a bedroom upstairs. I thought it looked cool, so... I took it," he replied hoping he could talk his way out of this situation.  
"Sorry, you need to give it to General Jameson; his tent is next to the medical one. It might help us to identify who's responsible for this massacre."  
"Yes sir!" he gave a weak salute as a private walked over to them. Zack leaned forward and placed a hand on his forehead again and resumed groaning. As he straightened up, he felt the private lift his arm which he rested over the private's shoulders and leaned into him slightly, making him take most of Zack's weight. They headed out the front door and started walking down the path towards the main town. Upon leaving the mansion, Zack tried to think of a way to avoid having to give up his sword.

As they walked down the path away from the mansion, Zack saw their camp set up in the middle of the ruined town square; erected next to the water tower. Zack straightened up and removed his arm from the private's shoulders assuring him he was feeling better and would be able to walk unaided. The private allowed it but stayed close to him in case he was needed again. As they got closer to the camp, they stopped, gasping in horror upon seeing the sight of dead bodies scattered everywhere.

- Jones's PoV -

They both stood there stunned for awhile looking at the dead bodies, then the private swore and ran over towards the medical tent where a blonde nurse lay face down in a pool of blood. "Michelle, nooo!" the private screamed as he fell to his knees scooping her lifeless body up. Jones held her in his arms while resting his head on top of hers sobbing and rocking back and forth. He then put her down, stood up, and started shouting out for all to hear that he would take vengeance on whoever was responsible for the death of his fiancée. He heard the sound of a motorbike engine from the main gate. He looked over and saw the infantryman he had escorted out of the mansion was sitting on the general's large bike. He started to run over towards where it was parked while shouting for the man to stop. The man looked back then sped off.

Jones stood there dumbfounded, as a man wearing a black cape landed before him, a red wing sticking out of his right shoulder. "You want vengeance on whoever killed these people, and your fiancée?" Jones took a step back and grabbed his gun from the holster on his hip. The large man lifted his arms up and opened them out in invitation, "I'm here. Take your vengeance, if you are able to." Jones aimed his gun and fired a few times at the man hitting nothing but thin air. After a few shots the gun stopped firing abruptly. he shook it realising in horror that he was out of bullets. He took another step back, pulled a grenade from his pocket and threw it at the man who rolled to the side as it exploded.

- Angeal's PoV -

Angeal ran up to Jones, grabbed him around his throat with one hand, and lifted him up. The private struggled to get free. "Pathetic, just like rest of these people I killed here today." He tightened his grip his nails piercing the delicate skin, causing blood to ooze from the targets neck. Smiling he pulled his hand away, tearing away a huge chunk of flesh. The infantryman fell to his knees grasping his throat in an attempt to stem the flow of blood now freely flowing from his neck. Angeal pulled a sword from within his cape and thrust it downward piercing the targets heart. Withdrawing the sword, he replaced it inside his cape, "Hmm, guess you wasn't able to take vengeange" he said looking at the dead target mockingly. He then took to the air in pursuit of the driver of the bike.

- Zack's PoV -

Zack watched as the private rushed away from him. He stood there waiting for the opportune chance to leave as the private fell down to his knees scooping a woman up. He decided this was as good a chance as ever to leave. Silently, he quickly made his way towards the town gate. Near the gate was a motorbike with a dead second class SOLDIER laying next to it who he presumed to be General Jameson. He saw something shiny lying next to the body which he identified as the keys to the bike. He picked them up and walked over to the bike looking back at Jones who had started shouting something about wanting vengeance. He shook his head, hoping he would be ok and that he wouldn't be in too much trouble for letting him escape. He tried the keys in the bike's ignition and turned them making the bike give a satisfying roar as it came to life.

"Stop!" He heard Private Jones calling after him. Ignoring the private, he put the bike into gear and twisted the throttle. The bike's engine gave another satisfying roar as it shot forward out through the town gate carrying him away from Nibleheim. As he did, he glanced back towards the town and saw Private Jones running after him. He faced forward again and swerved just in time to avoid a rock. When Zack was a good distance from the town, he thought to himself, 'The general must have tried to escape on this bike', as he continued heading south.

As Zack sped down the road over a bridge built across a small river, the grasslands gave way to rocks. He looked down at the onboard sat-nav and saw the road wound its way through a canyon area. To the south lay a small town called Cosmo Canyon. He decided to pay the town a visit.

- Angeal's PoV -

Angeal was closing in on the bike. On the rider's back was a huge sword. 'Finally. Maybe this man will be a decent challenge,' he thought to himself. As he was about to swoop in and land in front of the bike, a voice in his head spoke to him, "Leave him be my child. He has the potential to become a valuable ally to us one day. Return to the cave my son. Your big brother is about to awaken." He flew off heading towards the northern continent. Something in his mind was nagging at him about that man, and the sword he had.

End Chapter 1  
- Authors note -

Would like to thank my wonderful Beta who has helped me to edit this from a half way decent story idea, full of errors to what you see here now.


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